Rutgers University
13-10, 3-3
Illinois
12-10, 4-5
Baseball Wins Series Finale at Illinois
Mar 22 | Baseball
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Rutgers baseball won the series finale over Illinois by a score of 8-3 on Sunday afternoon at Illinois Field.
The Scarlet Knights (13-10, 3-3) erased an early 3-0 deficit with eight unanswered to beat the Fighting Illini (12-10, 4-5) and avoid a series sweep.
In the bottom of the third, Illinois scored twice on a pair of RBI groundouts. An RBI double made it 3-0 in the fourth.
In the top of the sixth, a sac fly from Yomar Carreras got Rutgers on the board at 3-1. The Scarlet Knights then rallied for five runs in the seventh to flip the game and take control.
After RU loaded the bases, Julius Rosado drew a walk to score a run. Peyton Bonds then laced a bases-clearing double to left, scoring three to give Rutgers a 5-3 advantage. Carreras added a single right after to bring in Bonds and push the lead to 6-3.
Matt Chatelle singled with the bases loaded in the ninth, scoring two more to make it 8-3.
Vincent Borghese started for Rutgers and delivered 4.1 innings, giving up three runs on five hits with four strikeouts. After two men reached in the fifth, Chris Sand came in the game and got the last two outs to strand the runners and end the frame.
Sand would go on to pitch his best game as a Scarlet Knight, finishing off the victory with 4.2 scoreless innings and earning the win. He allowed just one hit and struck out a pair to help Rutgers control the remainder of the contest.
Offensively, Bonds finished the day with two hits, three RBIs and two runs scored. Trey Wells and Chatelle both collected multi-hit games as well.
Rutgers returns home this week, beginning with a midweek contest against Delaware at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Bainton Field.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sand, Chris (2-1)
L: Ike Young (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Bonds, Peyton 2 ; Salinas, Tristan 1
RBI: Bonds, Peyton 3 ; Carreras, Yomar 2 ; Chatelle, Matt 2 ; Rosado, Julius 1
SF: Carreras, Yomar 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bonds, Peyton 2 ; Chatelle, Matt 1 ; Jaros, Ryan 1 ; Salinas, Tristan 1 ; Rosado, Julius 3
CS: Wells, Trey 1
Batting:
2B: Collin Jennings 1 ; Will Johannes 1
RBI: Michael Farina 1 ; Jack Zebig 1 ; Collin Jennings 1
SH: Kyle Schupmann 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nick Groves 1 ; Kyle Schupmann 1 ; J.R. Nelson 1
SB: Collin Jennings 1
HBP: Nick Groves 1
